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Norton Says Republican Bill Attempts to Lay Groundwork for Attacking Federal Workers’ Ability to Organize and Collectively Bargain

May 24, 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today went to the House floor to defend the use of official time by federal employee volunteers to conduct ordinary labor management activities. Norton said Republicans were attempting to use an unnecessary and redundant bill (H.R. 1293) about reporting official time by federal employees, which is already done by the Office of Personnel Management, to prepare for an all-out assault on collective bargaining in the federal workplace. She said that today's bill was "a cover for two other bills that are already out of committee that would make conducting federal employee labor management business unsustainable."

"Today's bill, H.R. 1293, is an obvious and ominous prelude to two bills in line attacking the core right of a federal employee to be represented by a union," Norton said. "These Republican bills are a brazen assault on federal employees and their unions by targeting employees who volunteer to serve as union representatives, ultimately undercutting the right to organize itself. It is not too early to sound the alarm and prepare to resist two radical anti-union bills in the queue waiting to be called to the House floor."

If one of the bills, H.R. 1364, passed both houses, it would result in virtually no federal employees could afford to volunteer to represent other workers as they do now, she said, because the bill would reduce retirement benefits of local union officials who utilize official time to represent others. The other bill, H.R. 1461, would bar entire categories of medical workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs, such as nurses, physicians, and therapists, from being official union representatives, and goes even further in reducing the amount of dues that unions can collect. Federal workers, unlike private sector employees, cannot strike, but they are permitted to represent employees on matters related to workplace conditions. Official time can only be used for official activities, and cannot be used for union activities, such as collecting dues.